


Don't Be Scared, I'm Right Here

by XxmerthurcatxX



Series: Bubblegum Bitch [40]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, Tumblr Prompt, because i'm desperate to fix her relationship with billy, max is in this one a lot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-27
Updated: 2019-05-27
Packaged: 2020-03-20 11:39:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,411
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18991921
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/XxmerthurcatxX/pseuds/XxmerthurcatxX
Summary: prompt: "I'm scared."Billy used to be good at being there for Max, but after things fall apart he sort of forgets how. Good thing Max forgives him, even when he's a dumbass.





	Don't Be Scared, I'm Right Here

**Author's Note:**

> tumblr @callmelilyshameless

Billy met Max for the first time when he was twelve years old. Max was eight, shyly hiding behind her mother’s leg, blinking up at Billy with wide curious eyes. 

He’d liked her instantly. 

Their parents married shortly after that and Billy decided that he was going to be the best big brother he could be because that tiny little redhead was family now. Anyone who messed with her, would have Billy to answer to. 

He was there for Max during thunderstorms, when they would make blanket forts and he would put his arm around her while she shook with fear. 

“I’m scared,” she whispered, her voice shaking as fat tears rolled down her cheeks. Billy understood. The night her father skidded off the road to his death, it had been thundering and lightning like crazy. 

“Hey, you’re okay. I’m gonna sit right here with you until it’s over. The lightning can’t get you in here,” Billy assured her. 

Max hid her face in his shoulder, staying close until she drifted off to sleep. Billy was tired too, but he stayed until the storm was over, just in case she woke up. He didn’t want her to be alone. 

Then there was the time Billy tried to teach her how to surf. 

“Come on Max, it’s just like when you ride a skateboard, only you do it in the water instead of on the streets,” he explained, with all the knowledge of a fourteen year old. 

Max looked between the board and the water. 

“I’m…I’m scared,” she admitted, but her face was determined. 

Billy smiled, giving her shoulder a squeeze. 

“You got this. And when you bite it, cause everyone does the first time, I’ll make sure you don’t drown,” he promised, ruffling her hair. 

Max swatted his hands away, laughing. 

“God, you’re such an asshole.”

She’d been teasing then. She had no idea that shortly after that perfect day at the beach, she’d call him an asshole again, and that she would mean it. 

“Come on Billy, I didn’t mean-

Billy whirled around to face her. Max flinched. He looked awful. His face was beaten to a bloody pulp, blood dripping from his nose and lip, and he was cradling his left arm to his chest. 

“Didn’t mean what? Didn’t mean to tell my Dad I’m a faggot!” Billy yelled, eyes wild. 

“It’s not my fault! He knew I was hiding something and he was grilling me and I was scared and I-

“Save it,” Billy snapped, cutting her off, clapping a hand on her shoulder and steering her out of his bedroom. “Just leave me the fuck alone,” he said coldly. 

Max glared at him, her jaw set. She knew she messed up. But she had been terrified, with Neil staring at her like that, like he knew something. Like he knew that Max had caught Billy with a boy and that she was protecting her big brother. Fine. If Billy was gonna be that way, then she was done too. 

“Asshole,” she muttered through gritted teeth, storming to her bedroom and slamming the door shut. 

A few months later they were living in Hawkins. 

“No son of mine is gonna be a fucking fag!”

Billy didn’t fight. He never did. Especially not when it was this bad. His dad had had more than enough to drink and he was on a tear. Billy curled in on himself, bracing for the kick to the ribs he knew was coming. 

“How many times do I have to do this before you learn? Huh? How many times do I have to teach you?!” His dad shouted as he kicked Billy once, twice, three times before he crouched down to his level, grabbing a handful of Billy’s hair and forcing him to look up. “You still a fag?” he asked. 

Billy knew it was stupid. He should lie. He should say no. But he couldn’t. Not anymore. Not when he finally had what he wanted. Steve. His Dad would lose his mind if he knew that after that night at the Byers, after apologies were made and tentative friendships were struck, that Billy spent most of his free time in Steve’s bed. Or in the back of the Camaro. Or up against the nearest horizontal (fuck, sometimes vertical) surface. 

He had Steve. And his Dad could suck it. 

“Yes sir,” Billy said, glaring defiantly up at his Dad. 

He watched his face contort with anger, saw his fist draw back, but the hit never came. There was a loud thud and then his Dad was laying flat on his back, Max standing over him with a frying pan in her hands. She dropped the pan, leaving the room for a solid five minutes before she was back.  

“Max?” Billy asked, words slurred as he stared up at his little sister, remembering when she stood over him like that, wielding a bat instead of a pan. 

Max looped a tiny arm around Billy and helped him into a seated position. 

“Can you walk?” she asked. 

Billy blinked, trying to process the question. He knew it shouldn’t be this hard to answer. He nodded slowly, leaning heavily on Max as she helped him to his feet. 

“Why didja help me?” Billy asked. 

Max gave him a long look. 

“You’re an asshole,” she said decidedly, helping Billy out of the house and out to his car. “But you don’t deserve that. No one does and…and just because you hate me now, doesn’t meant I hate you.”

Billy wasn’t sure how to respond to that. He knew he didn’t hate her. Not anymore. Hell, he never really did. He’d been angry at the world and at his dad and he’d taken it out on her. He didn’t realize he was seated and strapped into the passenger seat until Max was already starting the car and pulling out of the driveway. 

“W-whoa what?! You can’t drive!” He spazzed, the cloudy haze in his brain lifting at the terror of being driven around by a thirteen year old. 

Max rolled her eyes. 

“Jesus, no wonder you and Steve are a thing. You guys are the fucking same,” she grumbled, oblivious to the look of shock on Billy’s face as she drove, slowly, through the streets of Hawkins. 

“W-what? Me and Steve? We’re not a-

“Save it. Dustin caught you guys kissing once. We all know. And none of us mind. You guys are kind of perfect for each other,” Max said, shrugging as she pulled down a familiar driveway. Steve’s house. 

Steve was out the door in an instant, running to the car and ripping Billy’s door open. 

“Jesus christ. Oh my god, your face,” Steve said, hands fluttering all over Billy, like he wasn’t sure if he should touch or not. “Oh, baby, what did he do to you?” Steve asked, sounding broken as carded his fingers through Billy’s hair. 

“Shhh, M’fine,” Billy said, cracking a small smile when Steve pressed a kiss to his forehead. 

“I told you it was bad,” Max said and it clicked in Billy’s brain that she must have called Steve when she’d left the room after knocking Neil out. 

“You knew she was gonna drive me here and you let her,” Billy accused, glaring at his boyfriend. 

Steve looked sheepish as he helped Billy out of the car and into the house. 

“Have you ever tried to talk your sister out of anything?” he asked and yeah that was fair. Max was stubborn as hell. One of the many reasons Billy loved her. 

“Hey,” Billy said, reaching out for Max’s hand once Steve had him on the couch. “I don’t hate you. I…I love you. And I’m sorry I’m a shitty brother. Truth is, I’m scared like, all the time and I took it out on you and I’m-

“I forgive you,” Max said, cutting him off and plunking down next to him on the couch, resting her head on his shoulder like she used to. “You’re my brother, and I love you. Even when you’re an asshole.”

Billy laughed, wincing at the pain in his ribs. Steve appeared as if on cue, frozen peas in hand, pressing them to Billy’s bruised abdomen. He looked between his sister and his boyfriend, a soft smile on his face despite how shitty the evening had been. 

With the two of them by his side, the world didn’t seem so bad.  


End file.
